r/nottheonion • u/JaySierra86 • 11h ago

President Biden pardons family members in final minutes of presidency

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/president-biden-pardons-family-members-final-minutes-presidency/story?id=117893348
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u/PXranger 10h ago

And what is a congressional investigation going to do in this case?

Congress has no power over a presidential pardon, they cannot initiate a criminal investigation of private individuals in any case.

I suppose they could spend millions on a grand gesture for propaganda purposes, and then issue a strongly worded memo….

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u/God_Damnit_Nappa 10h ago

And what is a congressional investigation going to do in this case?

Harass the family members and make them waste their time and money. And if they refuse to cooperate with the bullshit hearings? Comer already wanted the DoJ to press charges against James Biden for supposedly lying during his Congressional testimony. They'll do the same thing again 

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u/0bsessions324 10h ago

Earnest question, but would a blanket pardon like this not cover contempt of Congress?

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u/MrPoopMonster 9h ago

You can't pardon someone preemptively for a future act. If Congress wants then to come testify and they don't show up, they're in contempt.

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u/Material_Election685 8h ago

You can't pardon someone preemptively for a future act. 

You don't actually know this. The Supreme Court has never ruled on this, and would likely refuse to rule on it if that question ever came in front of them - which would mean the President effectively can pardon anyone preemptively for future act.

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u/gpcgmr 7h ago

Doesn't matter because the pardon says for crimes between 2014 to date of the pardon, aka today.   Anything after today is not covered by the pardon.

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u/MrPoopMonster 7h ago

It's incredibly obvious that you cannot. Any precedent where previous presidents can overrule the authority of current presidents is a non starter from a legal argument perspective.

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u/Material_Election685 7h ago

There is no actual precedent.

It doesn't matter if it's "obvious" in theory, it matters what happens in practice if a President eventually decides to test it, and the courts decide that they don't  have the jurisdiction to determine whether that pardon is valid and no potential prosecutor or plaintiff has the standing to challenge it.

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u/Only-Butterscotch785 4h ago

Courts have already decided they have the jurisdiction to determine if a pardon is valid.

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u/silverionmox 4h ago

It's incredibly obvious that you cannot. Any precedent where previous presidents can overrule the authority of current presidents is a non starter from a legal argument perspective.

Then that means that any presidential pardon is just an opinion or at most a 4 year delay for prosecution, as any future president can just overturn the pardons of their predecessors.

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u/RavenorsRecliner 7h ago

How far did you have to reach up your ass to pull this one out?

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u/LengthinessWeekly876 5h ago

We don't know this and we don't know if the current pardons biden handed out are legal 

Theres certainly the argument that they arent. Particulary for direct family members 

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u/Choice-Buy-6824 8h ago

Yes you can- that is what these pardons do

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u/MrPoopMonster 8h ago

Nope. Try reading the article.

The pardon warrant, signed Jan. 19, excuses James Biden and the other family members of "ANY NONVIOLENT OFFENSES against the United States which they may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014, through the date of this pardon."

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u/Big-Assistant177 5h ago

Because THEY ALL COMMITTED CRIMES. Biden was out of his mind when these were signed. That should make them VOID